For many years now, the “Black Hole” in Candidate Experience has been a topic of discussion for many RPO experts. This term deeply relates to the condition where candidates apply for jobs both online or offline to the recruiters and never get a feedback for their applications or hear from them. However, it seldom happens that a candidate’s application is no longer being considered and even after conducting an interview do they avail a confirmation of receiving the job application or resume. This situation has been closely observed and studied by experts who now realize what exactly the candidates look forward or expect from their recruiters and future employers.
According to Matt Schreyer from Instigate Inc., one gets to know that candidates seek the following from their recruiters:
- Acknowledgement
- Commitment
- Closure
With the development and improvement in economy, the candidate experience has improved in certain areas while other streams remain unchanged. For instance in areas where improvement has been focused on providing general company information the candidate issues have resolved to 60% in the last year. In response to the job site designing and layout candidate issues have seen a staggering 50% rise. However, there are still certain areas where the challenge continues such as issues with provision of too little job information where the candidates experience tougher decision-making process and this only worsens with time. Another area that is challenging to the candidates is an area of difficult and unclear application process.
The above statistics are not suggestive that “Black Hole” is growing or aimed towards candidates who have a rising access towards filtered and unfiltered data on employers and job opportunities yet they are still unhappy with the recruiting experience. According to the President of Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association, John Younger, almost 94% of candidates never get to hear back from the employers and recruiters and that this trend is on the rise. This “Black Hole” coupled with the lack of information and recruitment drives is one of the major concerns for candidates in search of jobs.
